It hardly seems three years since young Russian Dmitry Tursunov created major headlines when he advanced to the quarterfinals of the Kroger St. Jude in Memphis. But, after suffering a lengthy injury lay-off in 2002, the American-based 21-year-old is back at the Racquet Club both healthy and wise as he defeated Christophe Rochus to reach the second round on Tuesday.

Most fans in Memphis will remember Tursunov's impressive run in 2001, when he qualified into his first ATP main draw and defeated Kevin Kim, No. 7 seed Greg Rusedski and George Bastl before losing to eventual champion Mark Philippoussis in the last eight.

But despite that run and his fond memories of playing in Memphis, Tursunov is not expecting too much from himself this time around. "I remember I did fairly well here, reaching the quarters," said Tursunov. "I think it's unreasonable to expect to do that every year. I think that the reason people do well when they first come to play ATP tournaments is because it's a big stage and you've worked most of your life towards it, so when you come they're definitely hungrier.

"But when that settles down, people know how you play a little bit, so it's difficult to expect to come in and just steamroll over people. But for me, it's a special tournament for me simply because I started my career here so to speak, or at least for fans here anyway, so hopefully I'll win here one year, maybe not this year or next year, but I'll just keeping taking it one match at a time."

The Russian, who left Moscow to move to Sacramento, California at the tender age of 12, was tipped for stardom by those who witnessed his impressive run that week, only for injury to put a temporary halt on his progress. Sidelined for six months in 2002 with a back injury, Tursunov returned in June later that year and played mainly on the Challengers and Futures circuits.

Breakthrough

Last year, he enjoyed a breakthrough season on the ATP circuit, finishing in the Top 100 in the INDESIT ATP Entry Ranking for the first time at No. 98 and pulled off a major upset in the first round of the US Open after defeating three-time Roland Garros champion Gustavo Kuerten.

"I think towards the end of the year I started doing really well," said Tursunov. "I was playing more within my limits. Sometimes you go for a little too much too early because you try to keep up with the other person. I think I started to feel a little more comfortable on the court, that I didn't need to rush to win the point. I'm a little match-rusty now after the training, so when I came back I started doing the same mistakes that I was doing last year. I'm glad that this year is taking less time than last year to realize what I'm doing wrong, so I'm learning faster."

After making a slow start to his 2004 campaign, going 0-3 in his first three tournaments, Tursunov turned things around on the Challenger circuit, winning in Waikoloa in January to follow in the footsteps of Andy Roddick, James Blake and Robby Ginepri.

Confidence

"It was very important for me to get some matches in," said Tursunov. "You don't want to be on a losing streak for too long regardless of what tournament it is. Sometimes you have to step down and feel like you're all mighty again or something, but you do need some kind of reassurance that it's not your game more about decision making and confidence lacking in your game. It was more about how I played and which shots I was making at which time."

Looking back on his injury-plagued year, Tursunov says he learned a lot from his time on the sidelines. "I think most of the time people get injured because they don't prepare properly, and that's probably because the situation has never arisen," said Tursunov.

"I think after you get injured you realize that your body can't keep taking abuse, it's a very fragile piece of equipment so you need to be able to take care of those things really well. You learn how to stretch properly, maybe not as well as you should but it's a step in the right direction. For me, it was very important. It's not the best way to learn, but I think for me it was a very good way to learn how to prepare myself for the upcoming year and playing many matches in a row."

Now feeling fit, healthy and more experienced after getting used to life on the ATP circuit, Memphis fans can expect to see much more of Dmitry Tursunov.